Vaping Among Teenagers Free Essay Sample

Smoking has been common for many years. Smoking techniques have also developed over time with new devices such as using vaping pens. As we all know technology has been advancing at a faster rate throughout the years. New technologies like e-cigarettes and vape pens have been advertised worldwide. This can become an issue for potential influences on teenagers and pre-teens. This can cause the early development of addictions and other long-term health issues. Vaping can become detrimental to teenagers’ mental and physical health.

Teens can become easily influenced by social media and other aspects of life to want them to start smoking nicotine. Advertisements and social media can influence why teenagers are consuming nicotine across the world. When it comes to using different devices and techniques guardians want to understand the appeal of smoking. According to The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents, by Kristen Jones and Gary A Salzman, Jones stated, “The devices to aerosolize the pods are designed to look like anything from USBs to pens to inhalers. They can be personalized much like a cell phone case and backpacks have special pockets for the mod devices” (Jones). This implies that teenagers find creative ways to design their vape pens which can become amusing to others. Having a cool-designed vape would make certain teens stand out more than others. Flashy lights and bright colors are always a target in adolescent advertisements which would make sense why vape pens with decorative designs can become attractive to teenagers. Using fancy vape pens can also come with tricks that people practice online. Apps like Snapchat and TikTok are popular social media platforms that a lot of teenagers use in this generation. These apps can also encourage teenagers to find the attraction of vaping because of all the tricks that can be found. For example, when searching “Vape Tok”, on TikTok, you can come across many videos on tricks and stylish disposable vape pens unboxing videos. This side of TikTok can attract all ages and land on anyone for you page. Tricks like the ghost and French inhale can become practice and videos on how to practice these tricks can become appealing to teens. 

The most fascination that teens find appealing to vaping is flavoring. More common and flavorful tastes would become more appealing to teenagers. According to The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents, by Kristen Jones and Gary A Salzman, Jones stated, “Pods come in fun packaging and the different pods are flavored to be attractive to adolescents, with everything from mint to gummi bear to frosted sugar cookie” (Jones). Having a device that you can carry around portably and taste like everyone’s favorite foods and desserts is what gains the attractiveness of vape pens, especially among teenagers. For example, a person started using a blueberry vape pen for the next three days and decided to go cold turkey. Although it wasn’t a long time, the cravings started to emerge. To counteract they started to eat blueberry muffins to soothe their cravings. 

When it comes to why most teenagers start off smoking nicotine it can become difficult to pinpoint because every teen is different. When someone’s mental health is at its lowest people tend to use unhealthy coping mechanisms. This can become a factor in why most teenagers start vaping. Without seeking out for help that they need teenagers can hold everything inside and try other mechanisms to help “better” their mental health.  In Teen Vaping: What We Get Wrong about This 'Serious Problem’ by Cameron English, English stated, “maybe these teens were driven to smoking by an undiagnosed mental disorder? This is quite common in people suffering from depression” (English). People who suffer from a mental illness are known to use unhealthy coping mechanisms to escape from their reality. English implied that teens are most likely to use nicotine if they are suffering from anxiety or depression without parents noticing. This can cause an issue because without getting the help that teenagers deserve most teens will jeopardize their health.

Another reason that causes teenagers to start smoking is addiction. Nicotine has a chemical that can cause addictive behaviors. According to The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents, by Kristen Jones and Gary A Salzman, Jones stated, “Adolescents who use e-cigarettes are 3.6 times more likely to report using combustible cigarettes later in life. Teens have also been shown to be more susceptible to addiction” (Jones). Addictive behaviors in early development can cause kids to grow up to get into other drugs or alcohol addiction that can affect their mentality later in life. The more harmful chemicals you put into your body the more you would have cravings. Teenagers lack the understanding of what an addictive behavior can look like since vaping can be seen as normalized. This can change their development mentality down the road as teenagers grow up and can also change their physical physique. 

When most teenagers use vaping devices over time, this can negatively affect their physical health. Long-term usage of nicotine can cause respiratory issues. This is happening because teenagers start vaping at a young age when their organs aren’t fully developed. Smoking can be a factor to stop their lungs from forming properly. This can lead to asthma or other critical health issues not only for the lungs but also for their cognition. In Improving on estimates of the potential relative harm to health from using modern ENDS (vaping) compared to tobacco smoking by Nick Wilson et. Al, "studies have shown that 28% for respiratory diseases (five results, three studies); 42% for cancers (five results, four studies); and 35% for cardiovascular (seven results, four studies)" (Wilson). The consumption that teenagers inhale when they are using vapes can affect their lungs more negatively than regular tobacco products. Vape pens and other devices that have nicotine were originally supposed to be used to help adults quit smoking cigarettes. Exposure to social media and influencers has led teenagers uneducated about the harm nicotine can do to someone’s body in the long run. According to The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents, by Kristen Jones and Gary A Salzman, Jones stated, “One study found that while parents understood that nicotine exposure is detrimental for teens, most did not know that JUUL pods contain nicotine” (Jones). Meaning not only aren’t teens more educated but they also lack the amount that they’re putting in their bodies. 

Teens are becoming hospitalized due to vaping has increased rapidly over the course of years. According to Teens are being hospitalized for lung damage after vaping — "It's mind-boggling," doctor says, Caitlin O’Kane stated, “In Wisconsin, at least a dozen people have recently been hospitalized and treated for severe lung damage. The first cases were reported last month, and the number has been growing. All of these patients are young — between their teenage years and 30s — and all of them appear to have been harmed by vaping” (O’Kane). This implies that more teenagers were getting put into the hospital due to vaping consistently. Teens are developing serious lung damage when it comes to using nicotine. Teens are being hospitalized for lung damage after vaping — "It's mind-boggling," doctor says, O’Kane interviewed Dr, Diana Zuckerman. She is the president of NCHR also known as the National Center for Health Research. Zuckerman stated, “When it comes to vaping, it is too early on for doctors to know all the potential long-term health consequences. However, there is growing evidence of short-term risks and lung damage” (O’Kane).  As more teenagers are becoming hospitalized there is always room to educate the other teenagers that would eventually go down the same route as them. On social media, for example, a TikToker named Bellaspresent was hospitalized due to extreme chest problems and shortness of breath. She was vaping for five years until went on tik tok to show the consequences of her actions and educated other teens on what will eventually happen to them if they don’t stop vaping. 

Teenagers and even pre-teens can absorb information that we teach them it is just whether they will be willing to listen or not. Education about the risk factors that smoking at a young age could help lower the smoking rates in teenagers if they understood how harmful it can become. According to The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents, by Kristen Jones and Gary A Salzman, Jones stated, “[Parents] rely on schools to educate both the parent and their child on e-cigarettes, yet studies have shown that most parents receive little communication from their school on the topic” (Jones). This means that schools aren’t talking about this topic as much as parents/guardians expect them to. Educating the youth about nicotine and addictive behaviors can help better understand why kids start smoking and what ways can adults improve in preventing the behavior before teenagers turn to drugs or alcohol.